Chuck and Sarah versus the Good Guys
by Speedhoven
Summary: Chuck's date with Sarah is interrupted by Casey who has been assigned to cleanup Operation Bartowski and eliminate Chuck. Sarah is determined to Save Chuck's life and finally sort out her feelings. NSA and CIA face problems with new Intersect project.S2E1
1. Chapter 1

**Chuck and Sarah ****versus ****the Good Guys**

**_So, I finally managed to get started on my first ever_****_fanfic. After a couple of months planning I decided it's time _****_to _****_finally do something about the story. It's one of those what-if AUs where NSA is able to capture Mr. Colt before he can interrupt Chuck's date with Sarah and Casey is ordered to kill Chuck during the evening. General Beckman and Director Graham face hard decisions regarding the future of the Intersect project._**

"Excellent work Agent Walker, Major Casey," Graham said while nodding towards each of them. "Our team will take the Cipher out of Los Angeles. Our operatives also managed to capture Mr. Colt and his team. We believe they worked for Fulcrum. Thankfully, they weren't able to exchange any confidential intel."

"General, what exactly is the Cipher?" Sarah asked as she glanced at the device. "I mean, mercenaries break in to the NSA lab, and it's the only thing they take?"

"The Cipher is the artificial brain for the new Intersect computer," Beckman explained over videoconference.

Chuck's attention immediately shot up to the screen. "The _new_ Intersect?"

Both Sarah and Casey were immediately consumed by the implication behind Beckman's words as Langston Graham explained.

"We've been working on a new Intersect ever since the original was destroyed. The Cipher is the final piece."

"Uh wait, ti-time out just for a second here," Chuck hastily replied. "Wha-what happens to me? The old Intersect?"

"Tomorrow, the new computer will be online. Operation Bartowski officially comes to an end and you will be done with us. No more briefings, no more missions, and no more spies. Enjoy the rest of your life, Chuck."

Sarah and Casey were surprised by Graham's words while Chuck tried to process everything Graham said.

Later that evening, Sarah and Casey sat in silence at the Orange Orange. Both of them were told to pack their equipment and be ready to officially complete the mission.

"So, Operation Moron is finally over. Can't wait to get as far away as possible from Bartowski and his idiot friends." Casey spoke with a smile plastered over his face, which was quite rare for the hardened NSA agent.

"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad. Besides, Chuck's a much nicer person compared to some of the dirtbags we've been forced to work with."

"Okay, I admit he was better than your first boy toy, Bryce Larkin."

"He isn't my boy toy," Sarah retorted with considerable irritation.

"Yeah, right…"

Sarah exhaled in annoyance. Suddenly, Sarah's expression changed. "Are they really going to let him go that easily? He hasn't done anything wrong, but what if…" Sarah felt a cold shiver go through her, something she never experienced in this situation before. "Casey, I don't have anything to worry about, do I? About Chuck? I mean he's safe, right? You would tell me if Beckman or Graham wanted him…"

"Dead?" Casey finished her sentence and fell silent; contemplating Beckman and Graham might actually do that.

"Don't worry, Sarah. He's safe." Casey tried to be reassuring but felt the same chill Sarah felt a moment ago. "But they might assign someone else if they feel it's necessary to eliminate him."

Casey noticed the worry on her face. "What are you going to do now? About him?"

"I don't know." Sarah's answer was without any emotion, but the way she avoided his gaze told Casey how she felt.

As Chuck and Sarah prepared for their date the next day, Casey's phone began to ring. Beckman's name came up on the Caller ID. Casey knew instantly it was the call he dreaded. Bartowski had already sacrificed a lot for his country and saved countless of lives, but Beckman still thought he would be a liability. The bile gathered in the back of his throat as he answered.

"Thought you might call."

"Major Casey, you understand the situation. We can't have another intersect wandering aroundLos Angelesgetting into trouble."

"General, Chuck maybe a novice spy, but the results speak for themselves. Surely we can find another exit strategy."

"You have your orders, Major. Eliminate Bartowski today." With that, Beckman disconnected.

Casey was never one to disobey orders, but this one didn't feel right. One the one hand, Casey sure as hell wouldn't sacrifice his career for the moron, no matter how many lives he had saved or how much he had sacrificed for his country. But he also knew the potential of Chuck and what his death might do toWalker. He didn't want to go against her, as she was one of the best people he ever worked with. He tried to think of an answer, but every idea ended in Chuck's death, Casey's imprisonment, or Sarah going violently rogue to free Chuck from an underground bunker.

Casey was lost in his thoughts as the transporter for the Cipher rang the doorbell. Casey handed him the Cipher and prepared himself to eliminate Chuck on his date with Sarah. Logistically, it was the easiest strategy, but he regretted not letting Chuck finish his date. He wished he would have at least let Chuck have one last night of fun.

"What are you saying Chuck?" Sarah said while leaning slightly towards him.

"What I've always wanted to say Sarah," He responded and glanced at her lips quickly.

Their lips met in a connection that was sweet and sensual yet somewhat appropriate for a public restaurant kiss. Sarah ran her hand along his cheek as her hunger to taste his lips increased, a gentle moan escaping her throat. Chuck also felt his desire for Sarah increase exponentially. Although it seemed like the kiss lasted forever, Sarah put the brakes on the kiss before it escalated to something not so inappropriate for a restaurant. Chuck pulled back slowly and was pleased to see he was able to make the super-spy Sarah Walker moan with pleasure just by kissing her.

Sarah sighed contently after they broke the kiss and had the biggest smile on her face Chuck had ever seen. For a while they just gazed at each other. Both of them had thoughts of paying the check and rushing out of the restaurant to take this date to the next level.

Those thoughts were interrupted as Sarah caught a glimpse of a shiny black CrownVictoriaparked in front of the restaurant.

"Damnit," she muttered and immediately checked her phone in case she had missed a call from Casey. She hadn't.

Chuck just stared at her in confusion. "What is it?" he asked.

"We have to go. Now!" She yelled as she threw some money on the table to pay the bill and dragged Chuck by the hand. Chuck yelped and almost fell to the floor, but Sarah managed to keep him upright. They took the back exit out, and Sarah started searching for any signs of Casey. But why did Casey leave his car right in front of the restaurant? Could it be he was trying to warn her? Or was he just confident that they wouldn't suspect anything? Or was Chuck not in any danger at all?

She pushed Chuck behind a dumpster and took a quick glimpse inside the restaurant through the back door. Casey was there and was definitely in assassination mode.

"Damnit," she muttered once again.

Without a weapon to use, Sarah climbed up the drainpipe near the door and hoped Casey would come out the back looking for Chuck. Sure enough, Casey stepped outside moments later with his gun drawn and ready to shoot.

Chuck peeked around the dumpster and noticed Casey. "Casey what are you doing…"

He never got to finish as Sarah jumped on Casey, sending him hard into the brick wall of the adjoining building. Casey tried to raise his gun, but Sarah spun and landed a roundhouse kick to his face, knocking him out cold. She quickly took his wallet and his custom Sig Sauer P229, along with all of his spare clips.

"Sarah, did you just kill Casey?" Chuck stared in shock at Casey on the ground.

"Of course not; he's just out cold," Sarah answered without any emotion. "We have to run now."

"What? Run? Why?"

"Not now, Chuck!" Sarah yelled at him. "Take off your watch and throw your phone into the dumpster."

Sarah checked Casey's pulse and pulled him behind the dumpster. She took his mobile phone from his pocket and smashed it with her heel to buy them some time.

"What now?" Chuck asked.

"We need to run as far away as fast as possible, and then look at our options. Right now we need a car."

They walked a couple of blocks to a parking lot, where Sarah spotted an average looking blue Honda Civic. She started picking the car's lock.

"What about Ellie and Morgan and everyone else?" Chuck asked with desperation. "Can't we just tell them we're going on vacation or something?"

"Ellie and Devon are still at work and who knows where Morgan is," Sarah responded. "We can't make ANY calls, Chuck. That would give us away." Even though she knew very well how much they mattered to him, she also knew giving in now could be a fatal mistake. The lock finally clicked and Sarah opened the door and motioned for Chuck to enter the car.

"Please, Sarah. Can't we even leave a note for them?" Chuck pleaded while staring right into her eyes.

No matter how hard she tried, she still had problems resisting his chocolate eyes and reluctantly surrendered to him. Her tone softened as she hotwired the Civic to start. "Fine. But write the note while I drive there and be ready to get some spare clothes for both us from your room. Remember, we need to be quick."

Chuck gave a little smile. He knew how hard this was for her. He tried to break the ice. "Sarah, why was Casey trying to kill me? He isn't Fulcrum, is he?"

"No," she answered firmly. That was the one thing Sarah could count on from Casey: his loyalty to the job and the country. Hopefully, it would also make his movements more predictable.

Chuck sighed and Sarah tensed again. They remained silent for the rest of the ride to Chuck's apartment.

After they left the note, which explained that they were going on a trip aroundEurope, and grabbed some clothes, Chuck and Sarah headed out in their stolen Civic.

"Where are we going, Sarah? " Chuck's voice was tinged with worry as he noticed how stressed Sarah appeared. "I mean shouldn't we already be out ofLos Angeles?"

"There's just one more thing I have to do," she said quietly.

_**Huge thanks to P.J. Murphy for the beta and making this chapter a lot better.**_

_**I'll try to write the next chapter as fast as possible and it will have more original content plus hopefully it will be a bit longer too.**_

_**Criticism and ideas are appreciated, please review!**_

UPDATE: News on the progress can be found on my user page.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_**A/N: After some problems I've finally managed to get the story running. With the help of P.J. Murphy this chapter became almost twice as long as the first and is purely original content. Hopefully this time the text formatting will actually work.**_

Sarah parked the car in front of a bank in downtown Los Angeles. She motioned for Chuck to step out of the car and follow her as she exited the car herself.

"Won't they track us somehow if we withdraw money?" Chuck asked nervously.

"No, they don't know anything about this account." She noticed Chuck was going to ask something but she cut him off. "Chuck, I know you've got plenty of questions you want to ask but now is not the time. I will explain everything later, but right know I need to concentrate so please give me some time. I will withdraw some money for us and you just stay quiet. Got it?"

Chuck just nodded in response. He knew that was the only acceptable reply when Sarah was in agent mode.

Sarah withdrew one thousand dollars in cash under the alias Elise Simmons while Chuck stood by silently. She decided to take the road to Barstow and continue towards Las Vegas from there, but first she needed some new clothes since her purple dress was a bit too conspicuous for life on the run.

**/**

After a long shift, Ellie and Devon stepped through their front door. The lights were off so they knew Chuck wasn't home.

"So they're at Sarah's place. Awesome," Devon noted with a grin on his face. Ellie couldn't help but giggle at his remark.

As she switched on the lights and laid her purse on the chair, she noticed a note on their living room table. She read the note quickly and just stared at its contents with widened eyes.

"Babe, what is it?" Devon grew concerned at the look on his fiancé's face.

Ellie just gave the note to him and shook her head slightly.

_**I really don't know what to say here, but I'm going on a trip around Europe with Sarah. **_

_**I know this is a bit sudden, but we got an offer we couldn't turn down.**_

_**We're not really sure how long we are going to be away but don't expect us any time soon.**_

_**Could you also show this note to Morgan and tell him to explain my absence to Big Mike?**_

_**Sarah also told me our phones might not work there, but we'll try contact you somehow when we get there.**_

_**We will miss all of you.**_

_**Love,**_

_**Chuck and Sarah**_

"Wow! That's just...awesome!" Devon exclaimed with a huge grin on his face. "I wasn't sure Chuck had it in him, but damn! Maybe he'll even seal deal like we did!"

"They must have left in a hurry, since he didn't even call us or Morgan and this note is barely readable," Ellie replied in a far more tempered tone, mostly out of concern for her little brother.

Ellie was glad Chuck had finally done something with his life and Sarah. Chuck wasn't very good when it came to women, but she could tell Sarah had definitely fallen for him a long time ago, and she knew Chuck shared the same feelings for her. Maybe he would also do something about his career…or at least that's what she hoped for. Thankfully, Sarah had pulled him up from the dark place he had been in for five years after Jill and Stanford.

**/**

Sarah came out of the store with two bags full of new clothes and Chuck by her side, since she wasn't going let him out of her sight. She started the car and turned onto the highway towards Barstow, where they would have to spend a night and look at their options. She wasn't exactly looking forward to the talk, mostly because she really didn't know what to say. Protecting him had to go above everything else, but hiding her feelings towards him was becoming hard. Truthfully, she wasn't even sure of her own feelings. The connection she felt with him was more than anything she ever had with anyone. Her feelings for Chuck were even stronger than her feelings for Bryce, and she thought she was in love with him. But after she had recovered from his betrayal and death…or supposed betrayal and death, as she discovered later…she swore she would never let anyone get close to her ever again. But then she met Chuck. She tried her best not fall for him, but even when she was trying to push Chuck away he still made her feel better and more like a human being, something she hadn't felt for years. Chuck always put her interests before his, even though she did nothing but hurt him in return.

One thing was certain; she had to do something about it because she couldn't keep hurting him like this, as it hurt her even more. Because of Chuck, she felt alive once again, and she promised herself to repay it all. The thought of 'repaying' Chuck put a smile on her face and made her feel even more alive.

**/**

Major John Casey woke up on the hard asphalt behind a dumpster with a throbbing headache. He took a moment to collect his thoughts and then proceeded to search his belongings. He immediately noticed his custom made P228 missing. His favorite weapon.

"Damn it Walker, you just had to take her, didn't you," Casey muttered to himself and regretted taking the gun with him for the mission. It was stupid; he never even planned to fire it. It was only there for show.

"Don't worry, babe, I'm going to get you back," Casey vowed to his kidnapped weapon. "Damn Bartowski messing with my head and not letting me think straight." Letting Walker mug him was a small price to pay for saving an American hero's ass, but losing his gun was pushing their luck. He had to put those thoughts to the side for now. This wasn't even close to being over. Casey expected Beckman to use any and all means to eliminate Chuck.

Casey took a taxi to his apartment in Echo Park where he could safely call Beckman and inform her about Chuck's escape. Though he had let them escape by parking the 'Vic in front of the restaurant and letting Sarah knock him out cold, all he accomplished was giving them some extra time. He still had to do everything to find them, or at least make it look that way, in order to keep his job. Career failure was not an option but maybe the nerd and his girl still had a chance for a normal life. He opened his computer and contacted Beckman.

"Major Casey, has Bartowski been taken care of?" she asked as her way of saying hi.

"No ma'am. Somehow, Walker was expecting me and was able knock me out cold. She took my sidearm and cash and took off with Bartowski."

"What was Walker doing with the Asset? Why hadn't she left already?"

Casey hemmed and hawed briefly at the question, as the answer left a bit of distaste in his mouth. "She was on a date with the asset. I suspect that she has some feelings for him."

"Sarah Walker has feelings for that geek?" The general was incredulous. "I must say I find that rather unlikely. What if she was planning on capturing the Intersect?"

Casey was surprised to hear Beckman draw the conclusion that Walker might betray her country. Sarah Walker was the best partner he had ever had…for being in the CIA, anyway…and one thing he could count on was her loyalty towards her country. Bartowski had to mean a lot to her if she would sacrifice everything she had for him.

"With all due respect, General, Walker has been one of the most loyal partners I've ever had. I seriously doubt that she would ever betray her country.

"She might have been just waiting for the right moment capture the Intersect and sell him to the highest bidder. Whatever her reason might be, I need you to locate and capture both the Asset and Walker. You will have access to all available surveillance and any technical support you need. I will also provide you with a partner to help with the hunt. It's your ass on the line, so you better capture them. Dead or alive."

With that, Beckman disconnected. Casey had bought them some time, and hopefully Beckman would have to inform Graham about Sarah. Casey was hoping because Sarah was Graham's best agent, perhaps he could convince Beckman to cancel the elimination order on Chuck and Sarah or at least give them a chance to explain themselves.

**/**

Sarah was lost in thought and not paying attention to her surroundings until she realized it was time to turn onto the highway. She knew losing her concentration was potentially fatal for any spy, but she couldn't help but let her mind wander off to Chuck again, who was fast asleep in the passenger seat. She thought about the kiss in the restaurant, which felt like no kiss she ever experienced in her life. Any mark she ever had to kiss was part and parcel with the job, so there was never any sort of connection. Bryce wasn't exactly unfamiliar in the art of kissing and he was incredibly handsome and confident, but not one of their kisses came close to the ones she shared with Chuck.

The more she thought about it, the more she was certain Bryce was more of a friend to her than anything else. All of their intimate moments were caused by their need to release stress. It was convenience, even though she used to think it was a lot more. They didn't really have many friends, and those that they had were always busy saving the world. She needed someone she could rely on and someone whom she could trust. Bryce became that person. Bryce helped her survive the spy world. But he and the agency also made her lose herself in the process. She thought she would just be an emotionless, ruthless agent for the rest of her life…until she walked into the Buy More one year ago.

Ever since she met Chuck, she dreamed of a normal life. A normal life with her nerd. The thought curled her lips to a slight smile, and she glanced at the sleeping form beside her. He was everything she wanted. But the smile vanished as fast as it came as she realized she might not be what he wanted, and she was too scared to do anything about her dream.

She was used to having men try to get in her pants. But if that was all he wanted, he certainly hid it well. She still couldn't help but think she wasn't enough for Chuck. She had done a lot of things she wasn't proud of in the past, and as much as she wanted to have a normal life, the thought scared her. She didn't know how to live a normal life or be a good girlfriend. She was scared about what would happen when he got to know everything about her and her past.

She was lost in her thoughts for the whole drive to Barstow. As she pulled in front of a cheap motel she couldn't help staring at her sleeping nerd. She gently shook him in order to wake him up.

"Chuck, wake up," She purred quietly.

"Mhm, not now," was the response she got. She bent closer to him and shook him with more force. Chuck slowly opened his eyes and immediately noticed the sight in front of him. Sarah hadn't had time to change her clothes. She was still in her purple dress, which showed plenty of skin below her neck and hugged her every curve. Chuck's jaw dropped, and he just stared at the amazing sight in front of him. He tried his best to avoid looking at her body at the restaurant, but now his mind completely shut down. Sarah smiled and was pleased at the effect her body had on him.

"Chuck, we need to get some rest for the night. We're going to have to leave for Vegas early in the morning."

Chuck regained control of his brain and couldn't help blushing a bit. For some reason, Sarah seemed oblivious to what he had just done. Or perhaps she wanted him to admire her body. He was pretty sure that she hid her feelings from him, but it was getting really annoying. It frustrated him after their amazing kiss at the restaurant, she was acting distant again. Chuck knew she had trouble letting people get to know her and she was afraid of something, but taking it out on him was starting to hurt. Chuck relented and decided giving her a little more time couldn't hurt.

They stepped inside their room, which so conveniently had just one bed. Sarah decided to wash off her makeup first before telling Chuck what was happening.

"Would please explain to me what's going on?" Chuck asked as she came out of the bathroom.

Sarah took a deep breath and sighed. How could she explain his country wanted to kill him after everything he had already done and all the sacrifices he had made?

"Chuck, what do you think you would have done if you flashed on someone after the NSA and CIA decided to leave you alone?"

"I don't know. Call the police or something?"

"And that wouldn't be suspicious at all? What if you were captured?"

"Huh? Wait, are you telling me that Casey was sent to kill me? Cut the loose ends? Then why are you still here?"

Sarah just stared at his eyes with a sad look on her face. She sat down on the bed and took Chuck's hand.

"Beckman thinks you've become a liability, and she can't let you fall in to the wrong hands. Because she doesn't need your Intersect, there's no reason to protect you or put you in a bunker anymore. She chose to just eliminate you."

"What? The government wants to kill me? Even though I helped them capture all those bad guys?" Chuck was starting to get angry. How could they do this to him? He even trusted Casey, and this is how they would pay him back?

"I'm sorry, Chuck," Sarah whispered with sadness in her voice and gently placed her hand on his cheek. "But I won't let them get you. I promise."

Chuck looked in her eyes, and it felt like she was going to cry. Now was the time to ask about the kiss and everything that happened between them. There was no cover or government surveillance keeping an eye on them; they were truly alone for the first time since they met. He knew agents weren't allowed to have a relationship with an asset, and she was good at hiding her emotions. He looked deeply in her beautiful blue eyes.

Sarah realized he would ask about her feelings, and she cut him off. "I really need get some sleep now. We're going to have to wake up early and get away from here as fast as possible. You can take a shower if you want; I'm too tired."

It wasn't what she wanted to say. She wanted so much to finally confess everything, but her words came out all wrong. Why was it so hard to get the right words out of her mouth? All she wanted was to at least let him know how she felt about him. How he had made her feel whole again.

She was about to apologize her behavior but Chuck stormed towards the bathroom before she could open her mouth. Chuck opened the bathroom door fast and stepped inside before she could notice the tears pooling in his eyes. There was nothing stopping them from being together, and she didn't do a thing to even imply that she was interested. She just shot him down cold. Why had she saved him, then? Maybe he was nothing more than a mission to her. Why else would she ignore everything that had happened at the restaurant? Maybe he was a friend to her but nothing more. He had kept his hopes up after she had agreed to the date and the date was perfect until Casey showed up. And the kiss at the pier when she thought they were going to die. Even Ellie thought that she had real feelings for him. _She would make a great actress, _he bitterly thought.

He washed his face from all the tears and brushed his teeth. Then he stepped out of the bathroom and gazed at the beautiful blonde lying on the bed.

"I'll, uh, sleep on the floor," he said coldly with a hint of anger in his voice.

He tried to take a pillow, but she gently grabbed his hand.

"No, you need to get some good rest," she said and noticed the sadness and anger wallowing inside of him. She couldn't stand seeing him like this. She sat up in the bed, and gently pulled him down to it. "Chuck, I'm sorry if I've been acting a bit strange lately, but if Casey is already onto us then I have to concentrate on keeping us alive. It's just…" she tried to at least give him a hint that she wanted to pursue a relationship with him. But she just kept choking on her words.

"It's just what?"

"It's hard for me, too," she finished softly. The agent in her had once again overridden her heart. All she could was gently brush her hand over his arm and then turned to get some sleep. She could hear Chuck sigh when she closed her eyes.

Chuck smiled a bit. Maybe there was still some hope. He fell asleep almost immediately when he closed his eyes and started once again dreaming about a certain blue-eyed blonde.

Sarah, on the other hand, couldn't get sleep. She still felt bad for hurting him and not being able to do anything about it. Her mind kept telling her agents weren't supposed to fall in love and Chuck could never love a cold-blooded killer like her. She spent the next thirty minutes just thinking about her options. She came to a conclusion; she needed him.

"Chuck? You still awake?" She asked. There was no answer. She turned over to gaze at his sleeping form and gently ran a finger along his cheek.

"Chuck, I think I love you," she whispered and finally drifted off to sleep.

_**So there you have it. Once again huge thanks to P.J. Murphy for the beta and sorting out all the wonky bits. If you find any mistakes that's probably because of me since I added a few things after the beta and I'm not sure if the ellipses should be replaced with commas. If there's anything you don't like about the story or have any ideas, please pm or include it in the review. Next chapter will feature the Buymorons briefly, US intelligence has problems with the new intersect and much more!**_

_**Please review.**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_**A/N: So here's the slightly delayed chapter 3. **_

_**Thanks to my amazing beta, P.J. Murphy who added almost 400 words to the chapter, this is now easily the longest chapter so far. **_

_**Even though my vacation just started and I haven't got a job, at least not yet, I'm not sure how fast the story will progress. I really don't want stress too much to do a chapter per week because I already rushed this chapter a bit which ended in more work for my beta. But I do have a lot more time so maybe I'll get the next chapters out faster than usual. **_

_**Even though I'm not really sure if I can write fluff very well, there's definitely some of that coming soon and action too.**_

Sarah woke up early lying next to Chuck with her head on his shoulder. _I must have moved a bit during the night_, she thought. Even though she only slept for five hours, she felt oddly rested. She looked at his sleeping form and struggled not to wake up Chuck and have her way with him right there. She hadn't had sex for over a year, and she had been dreaming about making love to Chuck from almost the day they met. Unfortunately, they were still on the run from the government and far too close to L.A.

She sighed heavily and went to take a shower. She knew she needed to keep her head clear and focus on getting as far away from here as possible, but that meant putting her feelings aside and ignoring Chuck. She was tired of pushing him away all the time. If they were fast enough, they might have a chance of talking things through this evening. She knew it was time confront her fears and finally admit her feelings to him.

She stepped out of the shower and quickly put some clothes on and went to get them some breakfast. She returned to their hotel room several minutes later, and she sat on the bed next to Chuck with a tray containing their breakfast.

She gently nudged him. "Chuck, wake up."

"Mhm," Chuck muttered and slowly opened his eyes. He looked at the fully-dressed blonde in front of him and glanced at the clock. "It's only six A.M. Why did you wake me up, and why are you dressed already?"

"We're on the run from the NSA, remember? Now eat your breakfast fast; we need get away from here as quickly as possible."

"Ah, right. Another day living in a constant state of fear, danger and anxiety. Just when I thought I might get bored," he sighed heavily.

"Don't worry, Chuck. We'll get you through this, and then you can have the life you've always wanted," she said sincerely as she gazed at his sad, brown orbs.

Chuck nodded and went to change his shirt. Sarah thought about that life she promised Chuck he could have. She just hoped she would be a part of that life, too. Chuck slipped on his shoes and took some of the food Sarah brought. Chuck's mood lifted a bit, and he smiled at her briefly. It wasn't the biggest smile Sarah had ever seen on Chuck. Those ear-to-ear grins he gave her always made her feel special. They made her remember why she did what she did. But the one he gave her now meant just as much. She would do whatever it took to protect him and not just because it was the right thing to do.

Moments later, they were driving along Interstate 15 towards Las Vegas. "So, what's the plan now?" Chuck asked. "We're just gonna keep on driving until they find us?"

"No. We'll dump the car in Vegas, take a bus to Reno, and get a new car with legal plates from a chop shop."

"And after that?"

"I don't know yet. We need to get far away from L.A. before Casey and Beckman can locate us."

"How could Casey do this to me? I thought he was my friend."

"He was probably just following orders. You know his job is everything to him."

"What happens if we get caught? Aren't you breaking some rules or something?"

Sarah tightened her grip on the wheel. "I don't know. But they aren't going to let us go, that's for certain. We need to come up with some sort of plan."

"Is there anything I can do? You look so stressed and this is about me. I want to help."

Sarah couldn't help smiling at him. Even though the government was trying to kill him and she was still acting distant towards him, he was still more concerned about her well-being than his own. Unfortunately, there was nothing more to be done right now. She would have to shoot him down once again.

"There's nothing you can do right now. Just try to relax and let me worry about everything, OK?"

Chuck's shoulders slumped, but he knew the answer already. Sarah had once again gone into agent mode and trying to talk to her would just upset them both. He wished there was something he could do to help her and not let her suffer because of him.

**/**

Morgan stepped through the doors of Buy More. He hoped to test his new _Call of Duty_ strategy with Chuck after his date, but he never got a call from his best friend. Of course, Chuck specifically told him not call, as Morgan had a propensity for calling at the most inopportune times. Morgan looked around the store to ask him about how the date went and when they could finally test his strategy. However, Chuck was nowhere to be found.

His iPhone started ringing. "Ellie? What's up?"

"Hi, Morgan. Chuck's not there, is he?"

"No. I can't find him anywhere in the store."

"Well…he left a message last night saying that he was going on a trip around Europe with Sarah. He also said you should explain his absence to his boss."

"What?"

"Anyway, I have a busy day at work. I'll let you know if I hear anything about him. Bye!"

Morgan stared at his iPhone in shock. His buddy had just left with the leggy Valkyrie without even calling him. Who would help him try out his strategy now? The other Nerds weren't as good in _Call of Duty_ as Chuck Bartowski was.

He didn't really have time to think about it before he heard Big Mike's booming voice. "GRIMES! Get your ass over here ASAP!"

Morgan hurried to Big Mike's office. Normally Big Mike didn't bother with Morgan Grimes. To him, Morgan was just as hopeless as the disaster duo, Jeff and Lester. But he was the only one who might know about Chuck's whereabouts.

"Where's Bartowski? We need someone to keep the Herd under control."

"Uh, Chuck's on a vacation with his girlfriend. He apparently didn't have time to inform you, sir."

Big Mike was impressed. "Wow, Bartowski's finally going for it with Blondie. 'Bout time he got off his ass and hit that. Good for him, but we still need someone to keep the store in check. Now go fetch me a foot-long. Pronto!"

"Yes, sir!"

Morgan walked quickly out of the Buy More and headed towards the nearest Subway. Because Chuck wasn't around to help him avoid work, he was upset he might actually have to work.

_I hate you Sarah Walker_, he thought.

**/**

"Come in," Beckman replied to the knocking on her door.

Director Langston Graham stepped in to Beckman's office. Private meetings with the head of the NSA weren't unheard of in his position. He was used to meeting Beckman 'off the record' and dealing with the constant struggle between his agency and the NSA. The two agencies weren't exactly fond of each other, and it was the directors' duty to sort out the bickering. After a rough start with the Intersect project, the agencies were able to share their intel and 'play nice'. Following the recovery of the Cipher from Mr. Colt, control over the new Intersect project was given to the head of CIA over Beckman's protests. Graham was determined to crush Fulcrum and any threats to the country by whatever means necessary. Neither Graham nor Beckman were afraid to play dirty for their country. The CIA wasn't above using drug cartels to launder money and glean intel regarding the actions of nearby fanatical groups, only to turn on them and hand those cartels over to the DEA. And the NSA typically monitored terrorist groups both in the States and abroad without some of the minor annoyances other agencies dealt with, like search warrants and due process. But right now, Fulcrum proved to be the greatest threat to them. Their agents had penetrated many governmental agencies and even went so far as to infiltrate local police forces. With the help of Bryce Larkin, the CIA was able to shed some light on their motives and activities. However, there was still far too little information about Fulcrum thus far.

"What's this about?" Graham asked with the usual hint of irritation in his tone. "I told you I'd let you know when we've got the new Intersect computer up and running."

"I know," Beckman replied evenly. She was still furious about not having any control over the new Intersect and had to rely on the smaller CIA for Fulcrum data, even though the CIA did a lot of the heavy lifting to get what they had to this point. "But we have a bit of problem with the old one."

"Didn't you already have Bartowski taken care of?"

"Your agent just went AWOL with the single most important asset in the world. Walker knocked out Casey during her date with Bartowski, and both of them are now missing. Casey believes your agent has compromised herself with the asset."

"Walker did what?" Graham was not expecting this. Sarah was his best agent because of her cold efficiency. "Has she contacted anyone yet?"

"No, she hasn't. Maybe she's gone rogue. I'm contemplating putting out a kill order on both of them."

"You know damn well Sarah's one of my trusted agents. We need loyal agents right now against Fulcrum."

"Oh, I know. But you know how important this project is, so I have to assume the worst. Therefore, Sarah's fate is now in my hands. Shall we discuss that?"

Beckman smirked. She knew Sarah was one of Graham's top agents. Although Beckman was annoyed Agent Walker may have compromised the Intersect because of her personal feelings, Beckman had to admit Walker was needed for the struggle against Fulcrum. However, she didn't want to be left out of the loop anymore. She knew Graham's desire to get the new Intersect computer online, which was currently housed in a safe underground facility. But even with the processing power of the world's fastest computer, the Intersect was no match for the human brain. Searching through millions of pictures filled with encoded data took plenty of time and getting a single match could take hours or even days. She felt the human Intersect was the key to winning the war against Fulcrum or any other threat to the nation. It was time to change Graham's way of thinking. She wanted a human Intersect, although that human was not going to be some computer nerd from an appliance store. It was a loose end Graham's star agent had unraveled. It needed to be tied…quickly.

"Cut the bullshit, Diane. What do you want?"

"More control over the new Intersect project. Fulcrum is a domestic problem and we need the Intersect to fight them."

Graham grunted. He knew what Beckman wanted from the Intersect project, but he wasn't sure handing all of their information to a select few agents would be wise, especially since there didn't seem to be a way to get the data out once it was uploaded to someone's brain. But now Sarah had changed everything. Even if he didn't accept her demands, Beckman would find a way to gain control over the project. His agent had just run off with the old Intersect and interfered with an NSA operation. Beckman was just giving him a way to get his agent back in one piece.

"Also, you will make sure Walker's actions do not go unpunished," Beckman continued. "You will make sure she knows she stepped over the line and endangered the whole country. She will be paired with Agent Larkin on his mission to cut Fulcrum's international ties while the NSA works on eliminating them on our soil."

Graham took a long pause before answering. "Fine. But this time you take care of Bartowski properly. He's still a liability to us, and if any of this went public, it could get messy. And try not to let Major Casey kill Walker in the process."

Graham turned towards the door before Beckman cleared her throat. He turned back to her.

"Not so fast, Graham. Casey is going to need some help tracking down the asset, and you have just the agent for that."

Langston Graham knew whom she meant and had to admit defeat. "I'll let him know," he muttered before exiting Beckman's office.

**/**

Chuck looked back at the lot just off the Strip where Sarah abandoned their stolen Civic.

"So, what now?" Chuck asked, although the loud growl from his stomach gave Sarah an idea. She grinned and gazed at his adorable puppy-eyes, which were in complete agreement with his stomach about getting lunch.

"Let's go grab something to eat. I'm starving too," Sarah answered. "Any suggestions? Just remember we don't have much time."

"I know! Let's go find us an In-N-Out Burger," Chuck exclaimed happily.

"In-N-Out? I've heard Morgan talk about that place. Is it really as good as he says?"

Chuck was incredulous. "You mean you've never been to one? You've lived in Los Angeles for a year and you never went to an In-N-Out?"

"It can't be that different."

Chuck couldn't keep the laugh inside him, and it caused Sarah to pout, although seeing Chuck laugh for the first time in twenty-four hours made her feel happy inside. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Guess I'll have to civilize you, then," he said as he laughed at the adorable look on her face.

They walked down Tropicana Avenue and located an In-N-Out Burger just west of the Strip. They both ordered cheeseburgers with fries.

"Mhm," Sarah moaned. "God, this is delicious."

"I know, right?" Chuck replied as he watched in awe while the blonde agent completely surrendered to the delicious burger. "Not as good as sizzling shrimp, though. I didn't realize you were such a fan of cheeseburgers. I always figured you prefer classier food."

"How come?" Sarah asked in surprise.

"I don't know. I mean, look at you; an incredibly beautiful and sophisticated superspy devouring a greasy burger. It just doesn't seem right. It's like Jeff and Lester going to The Palm for lunch. Only, like, the complete opposite."

Sarah giggled and punched his shoulder playfully. "First of all, I'm not 'devouring' the burger. Besides, I figured you'd realize by now being a spy isn't all glamour and glory. But I do have a weakness for cheeseburgers and, thanks to you, sizzling shrimp."

Chuck fell silent. The thought of sizzling shrimp made him think about Burbank, his family, and his friends.

"I will never see my family again, will I? Or taste sizzling shrimp?" Chuck asked sadly.

Sarah gently placed her hand on top of his and looked deeply into his brown eyes.

"You'll see them again. I promise."

She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, wanting to hold it and comfort him. It wasn't the first time she had given an asset a speech like this. But it was the first time she gave it as Sarah and not as the cold, unfeeling Agent Walker. She wanted Chuck to be with his family again. And she hoped when all of this was over, he would still want to be with her.

She sighed and let go of his hand as she drifted back to being an agent again. "We should eat the rest quickly though and get to Reno, fast. "

They finished their meals and walked to the nearest bus stop. The trip to Reno would be long and dreary. Nine hours on a bus sounded like torture to Chuck. But at least he would get to spend them with Sarah, someone who had been more than a protector to him for a long time.

**/**

Casey carefully walked around his apartment, readying equipment for his hunt. He was in no hurry; the fugitives were already a day ahead of him. Chasing them willy-nilly was counterproductive; patience and planning were the keys to finding and capturing them. Thankfully, Beckman had provided him with the most state-of-the-art surveillance and tracking equipment.

He already knew Chuck and Sarah had stolen a 1998 Supersonic Blue Honda Civic from a parking lot near the Chinese restaurant where they had their date. An analysis of traffic cams and satellite surveillance suggested they headed for Las Vegas. If Walker was smart…and Casey knew not to underestimate her…she would likely abandon that car and use other means to their next destination, which would make his likeliest search target either Reno or Salt Lake City. But catching them still wouldn't be easy, as it had to be done fast and clean. He couldn't use strike teams to capture them without risking the Intersect's identity or tipping off Fulcrum; he had to do this himself. That meant his best bet was catching them with their pants down…so to speak. It made Casey cringe to think he might catch a hardened CIA agent and her asset sharing their 'lady feelings'. 

He carefully disassembled his new pistol, a SIG Sauer P228 specially made for U.S. Navy SEALs. It was pretty close to the custom made P229 Sarah had stolen, but it didn't feel as good in his hands as 'she' felt. Casey cleaned the gun and reassembled it. He carefully checked all of his other equipment: tranquilizer guns, flashbangs and smoke grenades, pretty much everything he needed to disarm and disable the fugitives. Beckman ordered him to capture Agent Walker alive, and he was apparently going to receive assistance in his mission as well. The chances of getting Chuck through this mess alive were still rather bleak. That thought gave him pause. He thought about everything that happened since meeting Chuck. Bartowski, Walker, and he had saved countless lives in the year they worked together. Chuck had even saved Casey and Sarah a few times. Casey's life was already profoundly changed because of meeting Chuck; his reunion with his former lover, Ilsa, was proof of that. It felt like…actually, Casey didn't know what to feel.

Casey was never one to question orders but following this one could prove impossible.

**/**

They had been on the bus for only a half-hour, and Chuck was already starting to wish Casey had killed him in the restaurant. It was hot as hell, and the air conditioning wasn't working. If that wasn't bad enough, there was absolutely nothing to do. They had no phone, no music, and he was trying to let Sarah be so she could think of a way to get them safely home.

Sarah finally broke the silence. "Maybe we should try to rest a bit. One of us has to say awake, though. We can't let our guard down for a moment. Since I let you sleep in late this morning, I'm taking the first nap. Wake me up in two hours," she said quickly and smirked at Chuck. Sarah then gently laid her head on his shoulder. Chuck froze in place, not wanting to disturb her. Thankfully, she succumbed to sleep quickly with a contented sigh, allowing Chuck to relax a bit. He couldn't help staring at the gorgeous, amazing woman sleeping against his shoulder.

_Maybe this isn't so bad after all,_ he thought.

Some time later, Sarah stirred and started waking up. She groggily glanced up at Chuck, who was smiling at her.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Quarter past four. Is it my turn now?" he asked with a yawn.

"Yeah," she replied and Chuck closed his eyes. He was too afraid to lay his head on her shoulder so he tried to find the least uncomfortable position in his seat.

"Wait, why didn't you wake me up earlier? I just slept for more than three hours," Sarah asked.

Chuck sighed without opening his eyes. "You looked so cute and I couldn't bring myself to wake you," he mumbled inadvertently before drifting off.

A huge smile drew itself on Sarah's face. She ran her hand along his face before pulling him closer to her and putting his head on her shoulder. Sarah kissed the top of his head and gently ran her fingers through his hair. The bus was uncomfortably hot and the seats were already hurting her back. But she couldn't have been enjoying herself more.

_**A/N: Anyone guess who's going to come help Casey? **_

_**I've never been to USA or to In-N-Out, just heard about them. I used Google Maps to plan Charah's escape plan. I know that the Buy More scene was rather short and there was no Jeffster yet but I have no idea what to write. Please give me some ideas or let me know what you want to happen in Buy More while Chuck's gone.**_

_**Next chapter should feature drama, fluff and action (hopefully). Progress can once again be found on my profile page but I haven't started writing it yet.**_

_**Please Review!**_

_**Criticism really helps improving the story and any ideas are always appreciated.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: **__**After a bit trouble with trying to get all my ideas to paper and struggling to find the time to write this, it's finally ready. The next chapter won't take as long since it's already pretty close to written.**_

**Chapter ****4**

The day at the Buy More wasn't really any different than a normal day, even with the absence of one Charles Irving Bartowski. Unfortunately, the corporate office was still pushing Big Mike to hire an assistant manager because the guy from corporate who originally chose Tang as the assistant manager wanted to stay away from the Burbank Buy More and its employees. Big Mike tried to shove the responsibility of appointing the new 'ass man' to Chuck. But with Chuck doing the European tour with Blondie, he had to choose which moron would help him run the store. Unfortunately, there were only two people he trusted to help him run the store. One of them, a man with all the personality of a proctological exam, was sent to Hawaii, and the other was across an ocean getting some sweet lovin' from the fro-yo girl.

"Lord help me," he muttered before exiting his office.

He called the Buy More staff together and made them form a line. He had to pick someone by the end of the next day, but all of the candidates were almost equally hopeless and he didn't want to interview them.

"LISTEN UP EVERYONE!" Big Mike made his presence very clear and everyone's eyes shot instantly towards him. "You know that corporate wants me to hire an assistant manager, someone who will keep an eye on the store when I'm gone, which is quite often, and help me with some tasks. The position includes a two dollar per hour raise and a monogrammed Assistant Manager polo shirt among other privileges."

He took a quick pause to take deep breath and continued. "And because I don't want to interview all of you idiots, I'll let you decide who is going to be the new assistant manager. Tomorrow, after your shifts, we will have a vote. The winner will be appointed as the new ass man for a seven-day trial period and he…" Big Mike glanced at Anna. "… or she will answer directly to me. Now get back to work!"

Everyone except Jeff quickly ran off to their spots. Jeff just stared at the floor with his eyes twitching.

_God knows what's inside his head,_ Big Mike thought as his entire body shivered contemplating the possibilities.

**/**

After nine-and-a-half hours, the exhausting bus trip was finally over. Chuck and Sarah arrived in Reno. Chuck had never been to Las Vegas or Reno, so he was still getting used to the bright and colorful neon lights and casinos everywhere. On the other hand, Sarah had been all over the world and seen lots of different cultures and places. She easily navigated through the streets as Chuck stared at their surroundings. Their brief visit to Vegas was during the midday, so all the neon lights didn't feel so overwhelming and bright. Sarah couldn't help but smile at Chuck's kid-in-a-candy-store gaze, like everything was new and wonderful to him. She loved it. She was so used to travelling around the world and risking her life that nothing was starting to feel like anything. But when she was with Chuck, everything felt exhilarating and fun.

After making a quick detour to a costume shop for a fake moustache, sunglasses and hair product, they strolled towards the shady outskirts of the city. Just by looking at the houses near them, Chuck could tell they were nearing a dangerous neighborhood; the houses were worn and simple, the cars parked in front of them were old and rusty, and there was no one to be seen. The only way they knew anybody was around was from hearing all sorts of racket coming from inside the houses.

They reached an industrial area filled with warehouses and suspicious looking offices. Sarah caught the sight of a used car lot and stopped Chuck.

"Chuck, do you see that car dealer over there?" Sarah asked, to which Chuck nodded his assent. "Listen carefully. Normally I would do this myself, but we need distract Casey. Go to the lot and ask for a car with legal plates. Remember to use a fake name. When he shows you the cars, pick an average-looking car. Don't pick the most expensive one, obviously, but don't pick the cheapest, either. Find something that doesn't really stand out. Use a fake birthdate, address, everything. Don't give him any information which could tip off Casey."

"Umm…okay. Why can't you get us the car, though? You know I'm not really good with cars. I've never bought one before." Chuck asked.

Sarah placed the fake moustache on Chuck's face and handed him the sunglasses. "If Casey is smart...and we know he's very smart...he already knows we stole the Civic. If he has access to traffic cameras or satellites, he probably deduced we passed through Las Vegas, which means he might suspect we dumped the car already and that we headed here. So if he comes asking about us and shows a picture of us, hopefully the dealer won't recognize you and will have never seen me."

Chuck nodded, understanding Sarah's point. "And there's no question he'd remember what you looked like, no matter how you disguise yourself. You are pretty hard to forget," Chuck said with a bit of a smile.

Sarah looked down at the ground briefly in embarrassment. Her guard was up like never before, and Chuck still got to her. It was a bit of an irony that the more Chuck said things like that to her, the tougher it became to stay in agent mode and protect him. At the same time, she wanted more and more to keep him safe.

She willed her guard back up and started working on his hair. "Just act normally and you'll do fine. When you get the car, drive a couple of blocks down this street and pick me up. I'll go get something to eat while you get us the car."

She handed him the money and surprised even herself by giving Chuck a kiss on the cheek. "For luck," she whispered and held him for a few seconds too long before she turned away from him.

They started walking in opposite directions. Neither of them saw the huge smile on the face of the other.

**/**

Casey remained in his Echo Park apartment, even though the day was coming to an end. He felt the urge to chase after them rise up a few times, but he ignored it. He had the advantage. Using satellite surveillance, he was able to track them to Las Vegas and knew they were heading to Reno. Unfortunately, the distance was still too great to be able to catch them just yet, and he knew Walker's guard was still up. But even an agent as good as Walker couldn't keep that going forever. The easiest way to catch them would be wait them out until their guard was down and then strike swiftly and silently. Walker was a good spy, but Casey had plenty of experience in tracking down agents, even rogue agents. Patience and diligence was the key, not how fast you could move.

He was about order a helicopter flight to Reno when heard someone knocking his door. Casey looked through the peephole.

_What the hell is he doing here?_ Casey opened the door.

"Hello, Agent Casey," Bryce greeted Casey with his trademark smug grin.

Casey grunted in response; he didn't really need any help, but Beckman obviously sent him. Getting help from Bryce Larkin was the last thing he wanted. Casey kept his contempt in check, despite wanting to wipe that grin off Larkin's face.

"Aren't you supposed to be deep undercover pursuing Fulcrum?" Casey asked in as dismissive of a tone as he could.

"Beckman called and said Sarah had run away with Chuck, and I asked to come help you," Bryce answered while checking all the equipment the NSA had provided. "I came here to help Chuck and finally convince Sarah to join me in the field. I know Beckman ordered Chuck eliminated, but I'm not going to let you do that."

Casey was actually a bit surprised, even though he knew Chuck was Bryce's only real friend. He had always thought of Bryce as an egotistical bastard who only cared about himself. He was even more surprised by Beckman choosing Bryce. Bryce was a CIA agent and made no attempt to hide his relationship with Agent Walker. On top of which he had been a close friend of Chuck's, which made even less sense to Casey for Bryce to be in contact with Beckman. Even though an Intersect on the loose was a major threat to national security, from a logistical standpoint, Bryce Larkin was about to become a headache Casey didn't need. Unfortunately, Casey wouldn't win this argument with Beckman.

"Besides, you already failed once so Beckman thought you might need some help," Bryce stated in an almost confrontational tease.

Casey didn't respond. There was no way in hell he would let Bryce know he let the pair get away. Besides, he would get payback when Bryce discovered Walker had already fallen for Chuck. He was sure Sarah wouldn't be able to contain her 'lady-feelings' when there was no government keeping an eye on them. And there was even less chance Larkin's ego could handle Sarah falling in love with his best friend.

_This could be fun_, he thought.

**/**

_**Unkown Location, 8 Hours Earlier**_

Bryce Larkin nursed a beer in a bar so seedy, the place was almost a cliché. The air was filled with smoke and the dim light of the yellow fluorescent lamps. The bar was occupied by the scum of the earth; nasty, tough, and well-built thugs drinking and smoking excessively. The ruckus in the place was deafening; Bryce could barely hear his own thoughts.

Bryce had been working deep undercover for quite some time, but progress was slow. Fulcrum proved to be much harder to infiltrate than he had originally thought. All he knew so far was they had infiltrated most of the nation's intelligence community and they were somehow looking to take down the government and replace it with their own. They were like a modern day SPECTRE from Ian Fleming's _James Bond_ books. After travelling around the world, Bryce had been able to establish some contacts and stop a few minor incidents, but so far he hadn't received any new information from them. All he could do was sit around the bar and hope he would be contacted soon.

_If only Sarah was here_, he thought.

Bryce was surprised when Sarah didn't join him, even though he knew she was assigned to Chuck at the time. He just hoped Graham would allow her to contact him after her assignment was over so they could be together once again.

Bryce's cell phone started ringing. He walked to the exit so he could hear what the caller would be saying. Only a few people knew the number; Bryce was hoping one of his contacts had finally uncovered something. He stepped outside and saw the pouring rain in the dark. Bryce answered and waited for the caller to identify themself.

"Bryce," the caller said with a distinct voice.

"Beckman."

Bryce was surprised; agents typically weren't contacted while they were in deep cover because they officially didn't exist, and any contact with government officials or other agents risked their cover.

_Something big must've happened_, Bryce thought.

"Have you gotten any closer to Fulcrum?" Beckman asked in her normal, callous voice.

After recovering Bryce from Fulcrum and capturing Tommy Delgado, the two agencies decided to send him deep undercover to pursue Fulcrum. Officially he was dead, which meant he would be hard to track, nor would he be bound by any laws. Even though the agencies had started working more closely together, there was still plenty of distrust between them, and Beckman didn't want to miss out on any information the CIA gathered. She made Bryce her 'double agent' inside the CIA in exchange for allowing him to keep his rank and send him on important missions. Beckman could have demoted him or even sent him to federal prison without a peep from Graham. Bryce knew he messed up badly in stealing the Intersect data, even though there was no way he could've known that the special access group inside the CIA were actually terrorists. Almost losing the Intersect to Fulcrum and endangering the whole country did not endear him to his bosses. Fortunately, he was able to gather some information on Fulcrum while he was rogue. Once again, everything had gone in favor of Beckman; by letting Bryce get back to work, she increased Graham's trust in her and gained a loyal agent inside CIA.

Bryce didn't care about the rivalry between the agencies. He was used to the constant bickering, whether it was the CIA, the NSA or DEA. He knew it went along with the job; the politics, the backstabbing, people covering their asses while kissing up to Congress to get a bigger slice of the taxpayer pie. All he truly cared about was protecting his country and doing his job. Accepting Beckman's offer was an easy decision; he was sent on an important mission deep undercover and he helped the NSA at the same time.

"I've established some contacts but haven't received any new intel, ma'am. But that was expected and it's just a matter of time before I will start getting close to them."

There was a long, silent pause. Bryce tried to make it sound like he was making progress, but Beckman saw right through it.

"You didn't call me just to ask about my progress," Bryce said.

"No. We've run into some problems with the old Intersect."

"The old Intersect? Chuck?"

"You know that we've been on working on a new Intersect ever since you destroyed the last one."

Bryce was aware of it, but he thought it would have taken them longer to finish it. He also knew once the Intersect would be finished his superiors might deem Chuck to be a liability and 'take the easy way out'. But because he sent Chuck the Intersect, he also wanted to make sure Chuck got out of the spy business alive. He underestimated how quickly they would have the new Intersect computer ready.

_Shit, I hope they haven't gotten rid of Chuck yet,_ he thought.

"The new Intersect is almost ready, but your 'girlfriend' just took the current Intersect off the grid when Casey tried to eliminate him."

Beckman almost spat the word 'girlfriend' out. She respected Bryce as an agent and the two had gained each other's trust, but she still despised him for getting involved with another agent. Bryce was relieved to hear Chuck was still alive. Even though most people thought of Agent Walker as a cold and distant type, Bryce knew Sarah believed in doing what was right. She wouldn't let the NSA kill a hero who had already sacrificed so much for his country when he didn't have to.

"What I want to know is why she did it. And more importantly, is Fulcrum aware of it?" Beckman added with a growing anger. It still rankled her Walker might have let her feelings get the better of her, especially because she couldn't se why Walker would fall for some computer nerd making $11 an hour.

"Well, did you let her know you were going to have Chuck eliminated?" Bryce asked, attempting to find a way to get involved. Beckman didn't say anything, which told Bryce everything. His voice took on a hardened edge. "Sarah must have expected you to spare his life. Agents are supposed to protect the innocent, not to exploit them and murder them."

"Sometimes, sacrifices must be made," Beckman responded sternly.

Bryce ignored her and continued. "Let me help track them down. I can convince Sarah it's not her duty to protect him anymore. I know how she thinks, and I know how to find her."

"Casey is quite capable of tracking them. You already have your mission."

"Casey failed once already. And frankly, I'm just waiting for my contacts to find something."

Beckman pondered the idea. Everything Bryce said was true, but she didn't have to like it. Then again, the sooner the mess with the asset was sorted out, the better.

"Fine, board a plane to Los Angeles. Agent Casey will fill you in on the details."

"Just one more thing, ma'am," Bryce said before Beckman could disconnect. "I could use some help pursuing Fulcrum and was hoping Agent Walker would be partnered with me after I bring Chuck back."

All he heard was an agreeing grunt before a clicking noise. _Well, that went better than expected_, Bryce thought.

**/**

"Do we have a deal?" the car dealer asked.

He was a tall and muscular guy, and both of his arms were filled with tattoos. He was actually quite friendly, but there was a certain dangerous vibe about him. The dealer showed Chuck around the store, which was more like a warehouse than a car dealership. It was just a huge, bleak warehouse filled with plenty of different cars, ranging from an almost dead 1994 Nissan Sentra to a fully-customized black Hummer H3. Chuck was surprised by the low prices. There was no way the cars were legally obtained, even though the dealer insisted they were. After giving it some thought, Chuck decided to get them a 2008 4-door Ford Focus for a mere 3,500 dollars. There was nothing conspicuous about the car, and he had seen plenty of them in Burbank.

"We have a deal," Chuck answered with a smile.

"Okay, just let me get the necessary papers for you."

Chuck checked the car once more for anything suspicious but he didn't find anything out of ordinary. The store owner came back quickly with some documents and dangled the car keys in his hands.

Moments later he was driving the car away from the lot. He stopped couple of blocks away from the dealer to pick up Sarah, who waited for him with a bag of Chinese take-out food. She opened the door and sat on the passenger seat.

"Wow, I was half-expecting you'd show up with some nerd's dream car. Like a DeLorean perhaps," she said with a smile she hadn't felt in over twenty-four hours.

"I think you're confusing me with Morgan. Ever since we saw _Back to the Future_ as kids, the DeLorean has been his favorite car," Chuck explained. "So what do you think of the car? Is it any good?"

"It's perfect. Now we just have to find a place to stay for the night. Turn right here; we'll try to find a good hotel somewhere downtown."

"So no crappy motel this time? Awesome," Chuck replied in his best Captain Awesome imitation, which drew a giggle from Sarah. "So what have you got for us there?"

"I got us some Kung Pao and Shimira chicken. OK, turn left here and park the car there," Sarah pointed.

They checked into the hotel under the aliases Charlie Jackson and Sarah Miller. This time, Sarah handled the room arrangements and payments while Chuck stood by her side with his stomach growling in anticipation. They took the elevator up to their room, which was definitely an improvement over their previous night's accommodations. This room was decorated in simple colors, yet everything was beautifully laid out and clean. There was a comfortable-looking king size bed and a 46" plasma TV hanging on the wall. Even though the room was relatively cheap for a casino hotel room, it was the swankiest one Chuck ever occupied.

Both Chuck and Sarah sat at the small table and quietly ate their dinner. It had been a long day, and all they ate during the exhausting bus trip were a couple of sandwiches they picked up from a gas station during a break. During the trip Sarah had formed some kind of a plan to at least disappear from the government's sights, and Chuck was anxious to know what the coming days held for him.

"So, what's the plan now?" he asked while chewing the last bits of Shimira chicken. "I thought we were only going to stay at motels like the one yesterday."

"Well, it's complicated, but I'll try my best to explain everything." She took a deep breath before continuing. "I was trained by the CIA; they taught me how to disappear and run away from enemies But Casey knows how an agent will think in this situation, and he'd expect me to follow what my training taught me. That's why they sent him after Bryce when we thought he went rogue. So if he knows we're in Reno, he might think we've come here to get a car or fake passports before finding a place where we could fly far away or even out of the country. Unfortunately they probably have commercial flights close the L.A. under tight surveillance. So, like I said, if he comes asking around the chop shops, no one can remember seeing me or us together. Casey also can't trace those accounts from which I got the money, so he'll assume we're trying to lay low in cheap motels where they don't ask a lot of questions. He wouldn't think to find us in a place like this."

"So, what's the plan for tomorrow?"

"It's another day of waking up early and driving, "she sadly responded, knowing how Chuck would feel about it. "Casey probably won't expect us to double-back towards Las Vegas, so I'm thinking driving through Vegas to Flagstaff is the safest bet. Hopefully, once we throw him completely off our tracks, we can figure out how to get you back to your family in one piece."

Chuck sighed heavily and walked slowly towards the bed. He sank down on it with slumped shoulders, and Sarah felt the pain he was going through. She sat down next to him and gently placed her hand on his back.

"Talk to me, Chuck."

"Yesterday, I thought it was all over. No more CIA, no more missions, no more putting my life in danger for the greater good, no more me having to hurt my family and friends. I was thinking about quitting the Buy More and doing something with my life. And the date we had…" His voice trailed off.

"… was amazing," Sarah continued. "It was one of the best dates I ever had."

"...until Casey showed up," he finished sullenly.

She wrapped her arms around his waist, pulled him into a hug, and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Chuck," was all she could say. She didn't know what to do to make him feel better. He never asked for any of this. The constant danger, the callous treatment by the government, the lies and the heartache he caused his family, the numerous times she had to push away from him because she was afraid to tell him how she felt. All she could do was hold him.

They sat on the bed leaning on each other with Sarah's arms around him. After ten minutes, they still hadn't moved. Being so close to Chuck felt good, and Sarah was finally trying to muster the courage to tell him about her feelings. She hoped it would make him feel better, and they had plenty of time to talk about it since their day tomorrow was planned and at worst they would lose some sleep.

She pulled him closer until her lips were almost touching his neck. She had no idea what to say. Her emotions took over and she placed a gentle yet affectionate kiss on the crook of his neck. Her hand caressed his cheek.

Unfortunately, Lady Fortuna was not on her side. Nothing happened; Chuck didn't move or make a sound. Sarah pulled back a bit in confusion, and the sleeping weight of Chuck Bartowski crashed on top of her. She couldn't believe it. She had finally summoned the courage to at least try to show how much he meant to her and Chuck had passed out before she could say or do a thing.

She just stared at him with her mouth wide open. _What the hell I'm supposed to do now?_ she thought. She sighed in resignation. If Chuck wanted to sleep, she had to accept it. She pulled him completely onto the bed and slid a pillow under his head. She tried waking him so he could help her get his clothes off but the long day had taken its toll on him, and all she got in response was some mumbling.

She retreated to the bathroom to brush her teeth and get ready for bed. She emerged several minutes later, still upset for not being able to release the emotions piled up inside her. But all of that anger disappeared when she looked at the sleeping nerd in front of her. He looked so adorable and still was the sexiest thing she had ever seen. She had undressed him completely except for the boxers. Sarah lay down in the big bed next to Chuck and pulled him close to her so they were spooning. She felt his body pressed up against hers. Her desire for Chuck started to overrule rational thought to the point where she took his free hand and slid it under her t-shirt, gliding it along her stomach and even over her breasts. Although her nerd was just snoring lightly behind her, she couldn't remember ever wanting anyone so much. The thought of turning around and taking Chuck flitted through her mind, but the exhaustion from the constant stress throughout the day finally caught up with her. She fell asleep quickly, content to be in Chuck's arms.

_**P.J. Murphy did a phenomenal job with beta even though he was extremely busy. **_

_**Like I said before, this chapter is a product of blood, sweat **__**and tears so show your appreciation by clicking that button below. **_

_**This story has become a lot longer and detailed than I originally **__**envisioned but the fluff and action is on it's way. Can anyone spot the season 4 Easter egg?**_

_**Also, I suck at writing the author's notes as they always end up as silly rambling.**_

_**There will be more to Bryce's background coming too and the Intersect project takes a blow.**_

_**I practically live on your reviews so please keep em' coming. One of the reasons I started working on this story was to prepare for my upcoming abitur exam so all kinds of criticism is welcome.**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: **__**I almost got this out on Sunday, but life got in the way (again). It's nice to be back home again and see plenty of new chapters of chuckfic. Bit of a filler-ish chapter this time but the action and fluff is just around the corner…or at least I hope so.**_

**Chapter ****5**

"Thank you all for gathering here tonight. As you know, we're supposed to vote tomorrow for the new Assistant Manager," Lester started. Everyone nodded in agreement. "But it is not the Buy More tradition," he announced as if addressing a religious revival. "I say we decide the winner today with…the Buy More Olympics!"

"So we all agree to vote for the winner?" Skip Johnson asked.

"Exactly. There will be six different events and the points will be given to the top three in each event. The person who gets the most points will be crowned as the new Ass Man. He will institute policies that we choose while still getting the extra cred and pay."

"Umm, Lester, what if I don't want to become an assistant manager?" Morgan asked.

"What? Why wouldn't you want to be an assistant manager?"

"It's a lot of responsibility, you know, and I like my job easy."

"OK, fine. We need a judge anyway, so why don't you do that. Now how about we get this show rolling?" Lester held for a dramatic pause. "Let the games begin!"

The night progressed through _Thunderdome_, _Fingers of Fury_, _Call of Duty_, _Wii Tennis_, and _Mystery Crisper_. The competition was close, and it would come down to the final event: _Missile Command_. Of course, that was the way Lester wanted it. He had carefully planned the events so he could win the tournament without raising suspicion. Some of the contestants had already dropped out. Fernando left because his mother didn't let him stay out after ten. Morgan didn't want to be part of the festivities, and Bunny and Sam took advantage of everybody being out on the floor to sneak into the supply closet. The only people capable of winning the tournament at this point were Jeff, Anna, and Lester. Anna wasn't very good at games, at least not Missile Command. Jeff was already taken care of. He was enjoying the eighth beer of the twelve-pack Lester gave him when the evening started.

_Assistant managership, here I come_, he thought.

They set up the arcade game in the middle of the store on a small platform. Morgan dimmed the lights and picked up the megaphone. He stepped on the platform next to the machine.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for the final event of the first Buy More Olympics…MISSILE COMMAND! Our first contestant is…ANNA WU!" Morgan announced and offered his hand to Anna. He quickly kissed her on the cheek. "Good luck," he whispered.

The crowd didn't pay any attention to him; most of them just yawned as it was getting late and they had stopped caring about who would become the assistant manager an hour ago. While Anna readied herself for the game, Morgan browsed his iPod.

_Rush. Perfect._

Morgan scrolled through his Rush playlist and punched up _YYZ_ as the first song. Anna tried her best, managing to rack up a total of 782,570 points. Lester was next, playing while _Red Barchetta_ echoed in the background. Lester was no stranger to the game and got 1,143,020 points. He was already starting to celebrate the victory in his mind. Jeff slowly stepped on the platform. Over the years, he had developed the ability to walk straight no matter how much alcohol there was running through his blood. However, his brain activity slowed down to almost non-existent after a couple of brewskis. He swayed a bit in front of the machine and muttered something about "memories and tasty options." Jeff stared at the coin he was supposed to insert in the machine, and his eyes began to twitch. He finally worked his limbs enough to insert the coin and start the game. At that exact moment, the track switched to _Tom Sawyer_. A veteran of Missile Command, Jeff easily broke Lester's score as the music guided him through the increasingly-difficult levels. The sleepy crowd suddenly woke up and cheered as Jeff inched closer to the magical 2,000,000 point limit: the 'killscreen'. Lester cursed out loud; he had no idea Jeff was such an expert at Missile Command. Then the realization sunk in; Jeff was about to become the new assistant manager.

_What have I done? _

The last enemy missile on the screen exploded. Everyone in the crowd was stunned; Jeff had reached the magical killscreen. They shook off their surprise and cheered loudly. They pulled out their phones and filmed the screen to immortalize Jeff's accomplishment. And after raising his arms in victory, Jeff celebrated in the way he knew best. He passed out.

**/****/**

Chuck woke up early in the morning. He had a dream about living a normal life with Sarah and cuddling together in their apartment while watching a movie. Chuck sighed heavily after realizing it was just a dream. Suddenly he realized something was off; his hand was touching something warm and soft. His eyes shot open and he realized the gorgeous angel who protected him for the last year was resting tightly against him. It took just a second to realize that his hand was inside her shirt and dangerously near her breasts. The previous day's events slowly came back to Chuck, but he only remembered passing out in Sarah's arms. They were both clothed so he assumed nothing happened in bed. But that meant his dream was probably the reason for the cuddling. Chuck moved a bit away from her and realized that, on top of groping her while they slept, his manhood had been poking her in the back.

_What kind of a man gropes a beautiful woman while she slept,_ Chuck thought as his face became flushed.

Chuck gently eased out of the bed in order not to disturb Sarah's sleep. He had no idea what to do, and it was barely six in the morning. Sarah had set the alarm for seven and going back to sleep was out of question; he was scared of what might have happened if Sarah would have woken up before him. After taking a brief and very, very cold shower, he checked the TV channels without sound but found nothing interesting. His growling stomach gave him an idea. He exited their room and started searching for the hotel's breakfast buffet. He wanted to thank Sarah for saving his life for the hundredth time and hopefully ease her stress. He knew she was stubborn and didn't let anyone help her, but this time he wouldn't take no for an answer. He already knew the day's program and he would handle the driving and breakfast so she could relax, at least for a while.

Sarah slowly woke up from her slumber. The clock was only for backup; her biological clock had never betrayed her. However, she had learned the hard way you could never be too careful in the spy business. She sensed instantly something wasn't right. She quickly realized that Chuck wasn't pressed against her. She couldn't help thinking why he had to be so damn coy sometimes.

_If only he would make a move_, Sarah thought to herself. Something inside her kept stopping her from admitting her feelings to Chuck. Sometimes, it was her mind saying it would get them both killed, that he could never love a spy like her, or that she should abandon the hope for a normal life. Sarah was able to push her thoughts aside but her body didn't let her go further; her words never made it out of her mouth.

Sarah turned in the bed to face the sleeping nerd, but his side of the bed was empty. Suddenly she was on full alert. As she jumped off the bed and onto her feet, Chuck opened the door and stepped into the room which was now starting to be bathed in fresh sunlight. He carried their breakfast on a tray and set it on the bed next to Sarah, who had an expression on her face dancing the border between confusion and outright anger.

"What? I woke up early because I wanted to surprise you with breakfast," he spoke like it was obvious what he did. "Besides I can't let you always take care of everything. You've been so tense lately, and I wanted to help you."

"You shouldn't have left the room." Sarah was upset with him for leaving her protection, but she was even more upset because he left her cold in bed with nothing to snuggle against. But then, nobody ever did anything like Chuck just did for her, not even Bryce. And Chuck would just think he was being nice. How could she be mad at him for being Chuck? He was the most caring and loyal person she had ever known, and that was one of the many reasons she loved him.

"Oh come on, you think…" he started but never got finish as Sarah interrupted him.

"Besides I don't like waking up to a cold bed," She said with a smirk. "Although a nice breakfast goes a long way in apologizing," she continued with a slightly wanton gaze as she slowly put a piece of cantaloupe melon in her mouth.

Chuck stared at her struggling to find an answer until Sarah popped a piece of melon in his mouth and giggled at his stunned look.

**/**

Director Langston Graham took a look around the new Intersect room. Like the previous one, the walls and the ceiling were actually huge computer screens while a small white computer sat on a white pedestal in the middle of the room. Unlike the room, the computer didn't look very modern; it was almost a spot-on replica of the classic Macintosh II, except there was a slot for the Cipher instead of a floppy disk drive.

"How's the project advancing?" General Beckman asked.

"The team has almost completed the necessary changes for uploading the Intersect into a human brain. My agent will be here soon for the uploading process. What about yours?"

"He's on his way. What did the scientists say about changing the computer intersect into a human one?"

"Even without Orion or some of the other creators of the Intersect, they say that there should be no reason why it wouldn't work since it worked with Bartowski. Our agents scored well on Professor Fleming's test. Not quite as well as Bartowski, but they should be able to handle the Intersect."

"And security?"

"Most of the hardware you see was built and assembled elsewhere. We're the only people who know this room's purpose. Even if Fulcrum knew, which is not really possible, that we're building a new Intersect, they don't know this location."

A young man wearing a large white coat and goggles walked towards them.

"Excuse me, the screens are now set up and linked to the computer. Quite a fancy setup you have here, though. My superiors will send you the bill," the man said and left the room. Beckman was surprised by his attitude; didn't he have any idea he was talking to the head of NSA?

Graham saw Beckman's expression and explained. "We used non-government contractors to draw Fulcrum's attention away. Even most of the tech experts and medical staff coming here haven't been briefed yet."

Beckman nodded in acknowledgment. They had no idea how deep Fulcrum's contacts in the agencies ran, so Graham's safeguards regarding the new Intersect were a wise precaution.

Almost an hour later they were ready to upload the Intersect to the two agents. The tech experts checked the code and the new computer and told the directors that it should work without problems. The team of physicians was there solely to take care of the agents after they were uploaded with the data. Everyone inside the room gathered around the computer. The two experienced agents removed their glasses and turned to face the wall which had the most screens. Both of them were tall, muscular and had hardened, emotionless looks on their faces. Both of the directors regarded them as perfect agents: cold, calculating, ruthless and extremely capable. Graham tapped a few keys on the keyboard and entered a command.

_Intersect Initializing_, the computer answered on the screen and Graham put on his glasses. Everybody in the room but the two agents followed suit. The lights went out, and all the screens surrounding the room came to life. Suddenly the room was filled with images and vivid colors. The whole process took less than a minute.

_Intersect Upload Complete_, the computer beeped and the room returned back to its institutional-white color. The Intersected agents lost their balance and started falling backwards, but the medics were quick enough to remove their glasses and catch them before they hit the ground. They checked the two agents, although nobody was surprised to see them pass out. Everything appeared to have gone according to plan.

**/**

While Bryce remained stationed in Burbank, John Casey had taken a trip to Reno but was so far without results. He checked most of the cheap motels, but the lanky nerd and Miss CIA had not stayed at any of them. He still had all the car dealers to go through. Checking the motels had been easy; none of the owners wanted to get in the way of an NSA agent. Unfortunately, his NSA credentials weren't worth anything when dealing with the chop shop dealers. _Everyone answers to cold steel, though_, he thought as ran his fingers over his replacement pistol.

One of the most important things Casey had been taught about catching runaway agents was to think like them, to act like them. So he followed the route he suspected they took and found the first chop shop very quickly. CIA taught agents speed was important when trying to escape. That worked well if they were running away from bad guys but not the government. With all of the tools Beckman had provided, Casey could determine their trail pretty fast once he had their license plate and before they could dump their car and get a new one. Casey was pretty sure the runaway duo had bought a replacement car from some sort of chop shop in Reno.

Once he reached the outskirts of the city, it didn't take long to come across the first chop shop. He stepped in through the thick metal doors oozing with confidence. The key to dealing with filthy thugs was to always be in control of the situation and let them know it. His new pistol bulged on his waist, showing the dealer they would be negotiating on his terms. Casey didn't even bother showing his credentials; the dealer was someone who could spot government agents a mile away.

"What do you want?" He asked keeping a straight-face but clearly showing his attitude towards the law.

"You happen to sell any cars yesterday?" Casey asked with a commanding tone and leaned against the table in front of the dealer.

"I might have. What's it to you?"

Casey quickly leaped over the table and grabbed the man by his collar, lifting him into air.

"Now, we can do this the easy way or..." Casey challenged with a dangerous grin on his face. "...we can do this the hard way. And as much as I would like to do this the hard way and beat the crap out of your scrawny ass, I'm in a bit of a hurry so…which way do you want it?"

"Okay, sheesh. We sold 4 cars yesterday."

"Now we're talking business. All I need to know if you've seen these two."

Casey dropped the man and showed the pictures of Chuck and Sarah, studying the man's face carefully. Dealers were always protective of their customers and reputation, so Casey didn't expect for him to admit seeing them, which the man didn't, but he had been trained to notice any change in the target's facial expression. It didn't show any signs of recognition.

_Damn._

Now Casey would have to do the same thing again. Not that he minded roughing up some low level scumbags but he had more important things to do than to go around town beating up a bunch of punks.

"Who's the hot piece of tail?" the store owner asked snidely…and his mind went blank.

Casey couldn't resist letting off some steam and punched the sleazy dealer out cold. He didn't care if Walker ran away with the nerd; nobody disrespected women like that in his presence, especially his hopefully-not-former partner.

Casey searched the man's desk and gathered all the papers he could find. He shuffled through them quickly until he found what he was looking for; the list of sold cars. He took a copy of the paper and left the building, leaving the owner out cold on the floor.

**/**

Chuck and Sarah were once again on the road once they had finished breakfast. Unlike yesterday, Chuck was the one driving. This time Chuck had not caved in, even though Sarah had protested hard and made it clear she was not happy with Chuck putting his foot down like that. Chuck couldn't help letting a self-satisfied smile slip; after all, he had just defied Sarah Walker.

"I know you don't like anyone taking care of you. Just try to relax for a bit, OK?"

Sarah tried to pout in response but failed as a small smile played on her lips. She slowly closed her eyes, squirmed into the seat and let her body relax. Even though Chuck was trying to keep his eyes on the road, he couldn't help glancing at her from time to time. _How could anything be so beautiful and adorable? _he thought. But as he snapped his mind back to the road he realized it was going to be a long ride once again; 450 miles of road stretched across the empty desert also known as U.S. Route 95 or the Veterans Memorial Highway. Chuck turned on the radio, but not wanting to disturb the sleeping beauty next to him, he turned the volume down so that music was barely audible. He never noticed the smile forming on Sarah's face as she dreamed about a certain nerd.

**/**

Casey had no luck in Reno. None of the chop shop owners had recognized Chuck or Sarah. The motels were a dead-end too. He pulled his phone from his pocket and placed a call, hoping Bryce was having better luck.

"No one recognized them. I checked all the chop shops and cheap motels. If they got a car from here they must been disguised pretty well. I doubt they are stupid enough to get fake passports and try to fly out of the country, at least not yet."

After listening to Bryce's reply, he ended the call and motioned for the pilot to start the helicopter. Bryce didn't have any luck with the computers either, and neither of them received anything from the automated surveillance. The NSA had complicated algorithms that could detect faces from all sorts of cameras, such as traffic, ATM, and building cameras. But as accurate as the results were, coming up with a perfect match required a bit of luck. That had not occurred.

Casey didn't want to admit it, but they somehow lost track of the runaway duo for the moment. He was used to starting pretty much from scratch, but losing a clear track was particularly frustrating. He knew Sarah had taken them to Reno, since Reno was the best place within the vicinity of Las Vegas for all shady dealings, including obtaining a car off the boks. Casey figured Sarah would stick to driving cars, since the NSA had systems in place for tracking flights and passengers no disguise or fake passport would beat. Nobody in the chop shops sold a car to a woman under forty in the past twenty-four hours. They would have remembered Sarah.

_And Sarah would know that, too_, Casey thought. _Chuck bought the car._

Casey shook his head. He trusted the computer inside the nerd's head to get things done, but Casey wouldn't have let Chuck doing something like this had he been in Walker's shoes. But Sarah had gotten to know more about Chuck than he did. Given the situation they were in, she probably allowed a bit more leeway in letting Chuck help her. Casey knew he was better at breaking things than fixing them; he was starting to think that might be a character flaw.

Casey took a laptop from the helicopter's ceiling and placed it on his lap. He opened the satellite link and started going through all the papers he had gathered from the car dealers and entered all of the information to the computer. A total of 34 'chopped' cars were sold the day before. The NSA program would inform him and Bryce if any of the cars passed any local or state surveillance cameras and would provide them a picture of the driver. He also did a quick check on their bank accounts; they hadn't been touched since the kill order came.

_They have to been running out of money soon_, he thought.

**/**

"I told you letting you drive was a bad idea. Now my neck is killing me!"

Sarah angrily opened the passenger's side door and rubbed her neck. She had slept for almost four hours in the car. They switched places at a fast-food restaurant along US-95. Chuck opened the door and stepped out of the car, only Chuck didn't walk around to the passenger's side.

"Hey, what are you doing now?"

Sarah stared at him as she settled into the driver's seat. Chuck got into the back of the car. Sarah didn't understand what he was doing until Chuck put his hands on her shoulders and started slowly massaging her neck. His digits felt like they melted on her skin and Sarah tried to keep a moan from escaping from her lips.

_Oh God, how does he do that?_ she thought. As Chuck found a tight spot on her neck, Sarah couldn't help letting out a stifled moan.

"Mmm, where did you learn to do that?" she asked.

"I don't know, I've never really tried it before," he answered. She struggled to keep more moans escaping but she enjoyed the warm feeling that was tingling all over her body.

Suddenly Chuck froze. "Hey, I didn't tell you to stop," she pouted.

"I wonder if Ellie is getting worried since we still haven't called them," Chuck stated, clearly concerned about his sister. They had given her an excuse why they might not call in the first few days, but it didn't allay his concerns.

"We can't contact them; it would give away our location. You'll just have to think of an excuse when we get back," Sarah answered. She knew Chuck was worried Ellie would freak out if she didn't hear from them soon, but she also knew they couldn't contact her.

"I know," he sighed and continued doing his magic on Sarah's neck, eliciting an even longer moan from her. The tone of her voice was enough to make Chuck blush, but Sarah didn't care. In fact, she let a few more out. She couldn't help wondering what those hands would do to her when caressing other parts of her body…

**/**

The screen showed a picture of Sarah driving a black Ford Focus. Casey zoomed in a bit and noticed Chuck's hands on her shoulders and her face filled with satisfaction.

_Better not show this __to Bryce_, Casey smirked.

"I found them. They're on US-95 heading towards Las Vegas."

Back in Burbank, the NSA vehicle tracking program had struck gold just minutes after Casey got back to his apartment.

"But why head back to Vegas?" Bryce asked. "There are more security and traffic cameras and hardly any chop shops or ID dealers. The only ID forgers in Vegas are the high-end ones who would recognize Sarah as a government agent immediately." Casey didn't have an answer; it made no sense to backtrack to Las Vegas.

Then it hit Bryce. They were there to visit an old acquaintance.

_**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, **__**or put the story on story alert, it really means much to me and keeps me motivated.**_

_**Next chapter could take some time since I'm going to be rather busy for the rest of week.**_

_**Hope you enjoyed…and if you didn't please let me know what parts you liked or didn't like. As always, all ideas for the story are appreciated!**_

_**P.S. Bunny and supply closet not my idea…so not my **__**idea (anyone even know who Bunny is?)…blame P.J. Murphy if your brain got damaged.**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: **_I didn't mean to take this long but life _really_ got in the way and I do apologize for this being such a short chapter.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

"They're visiting an old contact of ours, an ex-NSA agent by the name of Jon Sanders. Nowadays he deals in forgery and information brokering," Bryce said, which generated a grunt from Casey in response.

"I know him, a real bastard to work with. He was…messy; always left a lot of cleanup for others. How'd you two end up working with him?" Casey asked.

"We had an off-the-record mission and needed IDs and some information."

Bryce remembered the mission well and Sanders especially well. He was one of those lone wolves whom no one ever wanted to work with. He didn't know what made Sanders leave the NSA, but judging by his behavior, he was likely fired for disciplinary reasons. His contacts were top notch, though; he had provided them information not even the CIA had been able to dig out, and the forged IDs were quality work. Dealing with him wasn't a pleasure, particularly because he kept hitting on Sarah.

"You stay put and keep tracking their car while I'll go and have and talk with our friend."

Casey hurried out of the house before Bryce could even protest. Then again, he couldn't leave the building without risking his cover, and Sanders probably thought he was either rogue or dead. However, sitting around the house and monitoring screens was not what Bryce desired. He was an agent, not a house sitter. It didn't take years of field experience to know Casey was just trying to mess with him. Bryce had yet to come up with a plan to save Chuck's life, but he was confident that he could persuade the general to spare Chuck in case he couldn't come up with a proper plan.

**/**

After another visit to an In-N-Out, Sarah parked their car in front of a large, plain gray building. She took a quick glance at the other cars parked close to the building. The surroundings were familiar, and only a few of the cars had been changed since her last visit. She knew that she was taking a risk, but if all went well they would be closer to getting out of Beckman's reach. She had no idea yet how Chuck could return to his family and normal life, so she focused for the moment on getting him out of harm's way. That meant getting out of United States.

They left the car and headed towards the building. They went through the main doors and walked inside. The hallway was filled with doors on each side and a single phone to their left, just like she remembered. Sarah picked up the phone and heard a woman's voice answer. The voice inquired her name and business.

"Sarah Walker, I'm here to see Jon Sanders," Sarah answered.

The voice on the other end sounded different than last time but had a somewhat similar tone. She remembered the slutty secretary from her last visit and, judging by this one's tone, the current one was no different. Sarah heard the secretary tap her keyboard for several seconds. The secretary then told her how to reach Sanders' office, a rather long set of instructions, while Chuck paced around the hallway impatiently. Sarah knew normally he would have pulled out his iPhone and started playing with it, but they had left his iPhone in Burbank as a precaution. Sarah ignored Chuck's nervous pacing as she listened carefully to the secretary's instructions. After she ended the call, Sarah grabbed Chuck by his hand and pulled him towards the doors to exit the building.

Chuck took a quick glance at Sarah. Her face was filled with confidence. Even though Chuck had learned a lot about her, she was still an enigma to him. She had always been the supportive and understanding one, while Casey always mocked and made fun of him. Still, he had considered him his friend…that is, until Casey tried to kill him. But like so many times before, Sarah had saved his life. Every time they talked it was like she understood what he was going through. More importantly, she was the reason why all the spy stuff hadn't made his life totally miserable. But just having her around wasn't enough anymore; he wanted more. He needed to know if her feelings towards to him were real or not. Nobody ever sent so many mixed signals to him. He had already heard her deny him under the effect of a truth serum, only to be on the receiving end of a phenomenal kiss from her on the pier when they found what they thought was a bomb Stavros Demetrios smuggled into the country. She categorically denied that kiss meant anything to her when he blew the Lon Kirk case, but then she was ready to give up her career and even her life to prevent him from being put in an underground bunker. He didn't know if his mind was just clinging to some modicum of hope, but he was pretty sure she felt something for him when they captured Lizzie and Awesome proposed to Ellie. He wasn't sure how Sarah would feel, but he promised himself he was going to do something about it soon.

She took them towards a much taller and fancier edifice opposing the building they originally entered. Below the huge wall of glass was a sleek sign stating the company's name: _Branson & Thornton_. It sounded like a very high-profile law firm to Chuck, and what he saw in front of them did not change that one iota. They stepped through the large automatic glass doors into a huge and almost futuristic-looking lobby. A colossal round glass elevator rising up to the sky in the middle of the building dominated the view. Almost everything laid in front of their eyes was glossy white, glass, or brushed aluminum.

"Wow! Talk about posh," Chuck gaped, completely baffled by the sight. All of the desks sported receptionists with identical clothing and manners. They all had glasses on their faces and hair pulled neatly into a ponytail. They weren't overly sexualized, although looks had obviously been a part of their qualifications. Chuck was wondering if this was where the models in those old Robert Palmer music videos ended up when they were done.

All of the clients visiting were also dressed in expensive suits and had designer suitcases. Both Chuck and Sarah felt like they didn't fit in the picture and drew quizzical looks from the people around the lobby. Sarah guided them towards an open reception desk. The receptionist hid her surprise easily and greeted them.

"How may I help you?" she asked politely but with a slightly sharp edge in her voice, almost like she despised them for their unprofessional apparel.

"We have an appointment with Josh Stannis," Sarah replied calmly. The receptionist looked at the big and sleek screen on her desk. Like everything else on her desk, it looked brand new and extremely expensive.

"3rd floor, second door on the right," the receptionist said without the sharp tone. Something she had seen on the screen made up for their unprofessional appearance.

**/**

Jon Sanders sat in his dark and dull office. The office was small, cramped, and filled with cigarette smoke. Sanders was nearing his forties, but already he looked older than that. His skin was hard, and the features in his face were etched permanently, the result of stress and hard work. He was never his superiors' favorite, always too rash, egotistical, and never cared for the consequences of his actions. He got the job done but usually left a huge mess for everyone else to clean up. One mistake was enough to end his career as an NSA agent. Now he meddled with forging false identification papers and trafficked information, for both the agencies and criminals. The job wasn't particularly rewarding. It paid well enough, but it didn't give the satisfaction of taking down a rogue agent or lawless terrorist. But his extreme methods and ruthlessness had cost him his job, and now he had to pay the price.

Then his door opened. Two figures stepped in, and Sanders instinctively rested his hand on the Glock 17 under his desk. He wasn't going to take any chances with a CIA agent, even though he had offered his services to her before.

"Agent Walker, to what pleasure do I owe this visit?" Sanders asked, forming a small smile on his lips. He made no effort to conceal his eyes roaming up and down her body. The last time she was here, she had ignored his actions completely. This time, Sarah took a step closer to the other figure, who certainly didn't like him checking out Sarah.

_Interesting, _Sanders thought_. Never seen her react that way with someone else._

"Business," Sarah answered coldly and directly.

**/**

"He should be coming to any minute," the physician explained. "Their brain activity has increased dramatically but otherwise they both seem completely healthy. Even if they work as predicted, we should do some tests once in a while to see if there are any side-effects to having the Intersect in their heads. We have never seen the brain work so hard, especially as they should be resting up right now."

The tall and buff man lying on the white bed stirred slightly. The NSA agent's angular face had been constantly strained since the uploading process but all vital signs showed him to be perfect fit. Moments later, his arm moved, and the rest of his body followed, lifting him to sit up on the bed. But he crashed back onto the bed almost instantly, holding his head in pain and cursing loudly. The physicians immediately reacted and checked his condition; there didn't seem to be anything wrong except for what appeared to be a splitting migraine. They injected him with morphine, but the hard-boiled agent still whimpered in agony. Eventually, he drifted back to sleep.

Graham's CIA agent was still unconscious from the upload. But just like the NSA agent, his vitals were in good shape. "How long do you think it will take to get them field ready?" Langston Graham asked.

Graham had concerns about this program, but he had bigger problems on his plate. He had just heard rumors of a major Fulcrum operation somewhere in the Middle East, and Graham wanted his Intersect to get there. They needed to know if the computer inside of his head held any information on the operation. They desperately needed some new intel on how Fulcrum worked, and capturing Fulcrum agents abroad could be just the break they needed.

**/**

"Jeff?"

Big Mike read aloud from the scrap of paper regarding the vote on the new assistant manager. _Poor bastard. Must have been so out of it, he voted for himself,_ he thought and picked up the next piece of paper. It also said Jeff. Big Mike checked the rest of the votes. Each of them had either Jeff or Jeffrey written on them. Big Mike took a suspicious glance at the employees standing in front of him. Jeff had a somewhat goofy smile on his face while everyone else looked scared. Lester couldn't hide his guilt.

_I'll have your Indian ass for this,_ Big Mike thought as he shot a deadly glare at Lester, who almost jumped back in fear. Big Mike was stumped, but he had no time to arrange another vote. Not that it would have been any help since the morons had obviously stacked the vote this time. He sighed heavily.

"I guess this means Jeff here will be our new assistant manager, at least for the time being. But if you screw up…you better believe it'll be your severely-medicated ass that will end up in my doghouse," he said angrily as he pointed his finger at Jeff, who had his usual unfazed look on his face. Morgan and Anna, on the other hand, were trying hard to muffle their laughs.

"Now beat it!" Big Mike exclaimed and everyone obeyed. He turned towards his office. "Goddamn racial quotas and regulations," he muttered in disgust.

**/**

"Agent Walker, to what pleasure do I owe this visit?" Sanders didn't bother to hide he was looking at Sarah with more than a few unprofessional thoughts on his mind.

"Business," Sarah answered coldly and directly."We need new IDs and fast."

Sanders took a quick glance at Chuck and then looked back at Sarah, continuing to eye her body with a smirk on his face. Chuck already decided he hated that guy. He was like the worst parts of Bryce and Casey combined. Chuck was just waiting for him to spit out some sleazy pick-up line or a cheesy one-liner.

"And the payment?" Sanders crossed in front of his desk and sat on it in an inelegant manner, as if he was inviting Sarah to do something untoward. "If the agency isn't backing you on this assignment, I could think of a few ways to bring down the price."

Sarah took her wallet from the right pocket of her jeans and grabbed a handful of bills, slamming them on the desk. "Here's the money," she stated with a dangerous tone. "You want it or not? If you do, then drop the macho bullshit."

Chuck could see the gears turning in Sanders' head. He took a glance at Sarah, then at the pile of bills lying on the desk, mostly 100's. He opted for the money. "Fine." He handed a piece of paper to Sarah. "Here's the address of an abandoned warehouse. My men will meet you there and you can work out the details."

Sarah paused for a moment. "You wouldn't be interested in making some extra money, would you?" Sarah's voice made the temperature in the room drop another ten degrees. "Some big time money?"

Sanders took a moment to think before answering. "Maybe. What do you have in mind?"

She took the car keys from her pocket and threw them on the desk. "I could use one of those cars you have in front of the office building. I'm guessing they're all insured?" Sanders nodded. "You report it stolen after two days, the police will find it dumped in a ditch, and you get the insurance money. And on top of that you get a 2008 Focus SE, which must be worth at least eight grand."

Sanders took his time pondering his options. He wasn't sure if Sarah really was just offering a good deal or if she was desperate for a car. He thought about just how desperate she might be, but the look on her face made him decide to go with the money. He wasn't going to waste what could be a twenty grand deal just to see if he had chance of having his way with Sarah Walker so he reached behind him and grabbed a set of keys out of the desk. He dangled them in the air. "So, how's Bryce?" Sanders asked with a leering gaze, knowing very well that he was dead...or at least he thought so.

Sarah ignored his futile attempt to mess with her and reached out with her right hand to snatch the keys from Sanders.

"Let's go," Sarah said as both of them turned and headed for the door.

"You sure you don't want to bring down that price? I'm sure we could come to a mutual agreement," Sanders implied in a none-too-subtle sexual overtone just before they reached the door.

With one smooth motion Sarah turned around, grabbed a knife from her jeans and threw it, implanting it in Sanders' desk right between his legs.

"Darn it, I missed. But it is a small target," Sarah answered with a menacing gaze.

She pushed Chuck out of the office before following him and slamming the door behind. Chuck backed a step away from Sarah with a scared look on his face.

"What?" she asked in confusion.

"Remind me to never, EVER, cross you," Chuck answered sheepishly.

"Oh, stop," she replied with a huge grin, giving Chuck a playful punch on his shoulder.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** More like half of a chapter but there you have it. I'm currently working on revising the first few chapters as there were some things I didn't really know how to write when I wrote them and a few things I disliked. It's nothing dramatic really, just some changes regarding Chuck and Sarah and the storyline remains the same but when I do get the revised chapters out, I do suggest reading them.

After that I'm going to get right back on writing chapter 7 which I've already started. It could be another 'stub' chapter but after that, things really start moving and there's finally going to be some good stuff (not just fluff) soon, starting from CH8. I can't really promise the next chapter will be up anytime soon though because I've got a lot going on right now 'cos someone tried to steal my bike and ended up wrecking the fork and ignition, and I have all sorts of thing sort out with the insurance company and police.

Once again, thanks to P.J. for the beta and all mistakes are mine because of some last minute tampering.

Anyway, if you enjoyed this or any other story, please review!

Your reviews keep us going through the hard bits.


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